A new way to Hong Kong from SFO in the wings

Hong Kong Airlines, which is partly owned by China’s Hainan Airlines, said last month it plans to begin daily Hong Kong-Los Angeles flights in mid-December with its first new Airbus A350. But that’s just be the beginning: Hong Kong Airlines said that as it takes delivery of more new A350s – it has ordered 21 of them – the carrier plans to start flying from Hong Kong to San Francisco in 2018. The carrier said its A350s will have 33 fully-reclining business class seats, 108 in “Economy Comfort” class, and 193 in regular economy. It didn’t provide any schedule information for next year’s new routes.

From the Bay Area, Hainan also flies nonstop between San Jose and Beijing.

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The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post suggested that Hong Kong Airlines’ ambitious expansion plans come at a tough time for Hong Kong’s major carrier: “The airline’s push poses a fresh challenge to Cathay Pacific, which has already suffered huge losses in recent years, caused by competition from mainland and Middle Eastern carriers,” the newspaper said. Cathay also competes with Singapore Airlines and United on the busy SFO-HKG route.

The lowest fares for SFO-HKG nonstops are currently about $625 for fall round trips– that’s a good very good deal, but fares could dip even lower with more competition on the route.

For its part, Cathay Pacific recently announced plans to start flying its own A350s on select U.S. routes. The carrier said that effective October 29, it will put an A350 onto one of its three daily San Francisco-Hong Kong fights on the same date. Cathay has 16 A350-900s, with six more on order. Cathay’s A350s also offer business, premium economy and regular economy seating.